In current cellular networks the power saving operation is only defined for a user equipment (UE) such as a wireless handset; the power saving operation is controlled by the network. Timers are used to define discontinuous reception (DRx) cycle lengths used by the UE. Each DRx cycle may include a number of receiving-on periods and a number of receiving-off periods; power supply may be turned off at the handset during a receiving-off period of the DRx cycle.
Traditionally, other network elements such as a base station and an access point do not have power saving mode of operation, in part because they normally have a power supply. This is changing and network elements such as base stations also need power saving operation at least for two reasons. First, a power saving operation may support battery-powered devices such as a laptop computer or a UE to serve as an access point in a local area network environment. Second, as wireless network elements become more prevalent and collectively consume more energy, an efficient power saving operation may help contribute to significant energy saving. For example, meaningful energy saving may be achieved if the access points and base stations in business buildings are put in a power saving mode during weekend or nights when network traffic is considerably light. For the purpose of this application, the network elements such as base station and access points are only distinguished from handset and are not distinguished from each other; the terms may be used interchangeably for the convenience of description.